Another high-ranking MPR/APM executive announces plans to step down

Another high-ranking official with American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio is leaving the company. Tim Roesler, senior vice president and chief business development officer, will step down at the end of the year. 

Bring Me The News obtained a portion of Roesler's letter to employees:

"I have decided that now is the right time for me to leave American Public Media and MPR. This decision wasn’t made lightly. It has been my privilege to serve our audience, users, and members for the better part of two decades. Having helped lead MPR through a challenging year and handing the baton to its new President has helped me to take a broad perspective view. This is the perfect time to transition to my next set of challenges, and ventures. I will wrap up transitional work by December 31."

Roesler, at APM/MPR for 19 years, announced his plans just weeks after CEO Jon McTaggart revealed plans to step down. A replacement for McTaggart has not yet been named. 

The public media company has faced significant backlash for its handling of sexual harassment allegations in recent months. In September, longtime MPR reporter Marianne Combs resigned, citing MPR's decision to withhold a story that she had spent months working on after MPR confirmed in June it was investigating allegations made against a host at The Current, which is owned by MPR.

MPR President Duchesne Drew first released a statement saying he was "blindsided" by Combs' resignation, then less than 24 hours later fired Eric Malmberg, saying conditions in the 36 hours before and up to the decision changed. 

Combs is not the only MPR employee to express frustration with the organization's efforts to address sexual harassment. Current host Andrea Swensson said she brought four possible stories to the attention of those in "positions of power" regarding predatory behavior within the Twin Cities media scene, but was met with roadblocks.

A third high-profile MPR employee departed the company in September when Garrett McQueen, the only Black classical host on MPR, said he was fired after not following programming guidelines. 

Following all of these departures, employees with The Current and Classical MPR announced plans to unionize and MPR News employees started a Transform MPR campaign in an effort to improve company culture and better reflect the communities it serves.